When I found out EngPlay was asking for an interview, I jumped at the chance to spread the word about what is; in my opinion, it’s one of the best events of the term. Being a part of or watching an EngPlay is always an experience, and the more people who know about it, the more fun it gets! I had the privilege of interviewing Ryan Wu and Hannah Irvine, 2 of the directors for this term’s EngPlay, about their experiences, as well as reasons to join and/or watch the show.
Q: What does EngPlay do?
We put on a musical or play every term. We rehearse, set up and put on the show, along with a few cast socials.
The main thing is trying to get as many people involved in EngPlay as possible, whether it’s the audience or people who are actually in the show. We always encourage people to audition or come and watch since it’s always a really good time.
This term, we are doing a parody of Percy Jackson called, “Peter Johnson: The Tool Thief” which we’ve been really excited to do because we think Percy Jackson is a point of nostalgia for a lot of people our age — and easy to put an Engineering spin on. We’re hoping this gets people excited to go watch it, and we’ve also made some tweaks, so the plot isn’t exactly the same…go watch it to see what we mean!
Q: What are EngPlay’s main activities in a term? How much preparation goes into a show?
Let’s start from the beginning. For this term’s show, we started writing the script in May; we have 3 Directors and a Stage Manager, and we’ve all been collaborating on the script for the past 4 months. Closer to the start of the term, we get all our admin duties and budget ready and make our audition scripts. After auditions (which this term was the third week of September), we send out our casting decisions, and from then on, we have rehearsals every Wednesday and Sunday. Everyone is working very hard to make sure that we can get the show on the road and make sure that it’s performed well.
We have cast socials so that everyone in the group can get to know each other and become a tight-knit group. For EngPlays, as you get involved, it becomes more and more fun if people actually get into it.
The planning for the shows begins many, many months in advance. We’re writing the script at least 4 months in advance (sometimes even 12!), and our theatre bookings are made 2 years from the show. A lot goes into the theatre bookings, including coordinating with the theatre — we’re in Hagey this term as opposed to ML, so we’ve had to relearn how Hagey’s theatre works (which has been a bit of a task!).
Q: What have you learned from being a part of EngPlay?
Ryan: EngPlay offers lots of different learning opportunities. What I’ve learned from being a director is how you go about leading a group, making sure things are running on time, getting people involved, managing the social aspect of how people are having fun together, getting people to buy into putting the play together, to get everything organized and ready to go, and getting everybody hyped up for show days. I think it’s been a really great experience, and over the years, I’ve learned that in a team, what people put into something is what everybody gets out of it: the more effort we put in as a group, the more fun we have together.
Hannah: My first experience with EngPlay was as a cast member, and it was such a cool experience. I went to every rehearsal even though I had a small role — and the thing about EngPlay is that you meet so many different people since it’s a different cast every single term, so it was fantastic to meet new people, come out of my shell a little bit, and get more involved in things that are Engineering-related but don’t necessarily need to have an admin aspect unless you’re directing.
Q: What’s your favourite thing about being a member of EngPlay?
Ryan: It’s the people, always the people. The cast and the fun that we have is what makes EngPlay, EngPlay!
Hannah: Because you don’t need to attend the rehearsals of scenes your character’s not in, we try to encourage people to still come to every rehearsal so that we have a sense of community. This term, our cast and crew have been so amazing; people who aren’t needed for some rehearsals still come anyway, and I feel like we’re already a tight-knit group even though we’ve only had about 2 weeks of rehearsals (at that point). It definitely is the people that make EngPlay so awesome.
Q: What are some difficulties with being a director or cast member?
One of the most difficult things is the audition and the casting. Our cast sizes for many of the shows tend to be small, but we want people to keep auditioning because even if there might not be a role for you in one show, there definitely will be in future shows. We’ve seen people audition many times and then the perfect role appears for them and they excel in it. We want people to stay involved and not get discouraged. What makes casting so difficult is that we can only cast so many people, and we have many great auditions.
Another big challenge of EngPlay is making sure that all the logistics happen at the right time, like ordering cast T-shirts 3-4 weeks in advance of when we want them to arrive, booking the theatre…you’ve got to be on top of things. Coming together to make the show what it is and getting through the challenges makes EngPlay such a fun experience — there’s the adrenaline that builds up as show week is coming up, people getting ready and things being set in motion, the group clicking together. Even as a director, not having to tell people what to do, they know where they need to be and when…it’s like teaching a kid how to ride a bike and watching them go off on their own; it’s a challenge at first, but it becomes something very beautiful at the end.
From a cast perspective, there’s also the fact we are mostly all in busy Engineering programs, and especially for lead roles, needing to juggle learning their lines, coming to rehearsals and managing Engineering…something we’re really trying to do this term is encouraging members to talk to us if things are getting difficult so we can reschedule.
Q: Why did you join EngPlay? And why did you decide to become directors?
Ryan: When I first joined EngPlay, I was helping one of my friends audition. I had done a little bit of tech in high school, so when the directors at the time asked if I was auditioning and I told them I had done tech, they were really happy, and that’s how I got started on my first show. I’ve done tech and crew for some shows, and now I’m moved on to directing, which has been really, really fun.
Hannah: I did a bit of acting in the past, but I didn’t get into EngPlay right when I got to university. What really got me into it was going to see an EngPlay and remembering how fun it is to put on a show, so I decided that I would audition the next term after co-op. It has been one of the best decisions I’ve made; it’s been so great that have a creative outlet and a break from the stress of classes. Going to one of the shows and just being a part of the audience made me realize I really wanted to be in the cast.
Q: How can new members join you?
At the beginning of every term, we post when our auditions will be through EngSoc and on our Instagram for anyone who’s interested in being in crew or cast. Interested crew send an email to the EngPlay email so we can try to get a role for them. For auditions, you come at one of the times, take one of the audition scripts, and take as much time as you need before presenting — by the end of week, we get back to the people who got cast.
Our Discord is also open to everyone, even if you’re not in the show and just want more information. If you don’t necessarily want to be in the show but want to write a script, we have a number of people who’ve already written scripts and look for people to direct them. We’re very open if you want to get involved in any way and the Discord is a good way to get more information.
For people looking for smaller commitments, we do set builds 1-2 weekends a term where we build the props and sets for the show. We love getting extra hands and it’s a good way to have fun without needing to make a large commitment.
Q: How can someone get their EngPlay tickets, and where and when will it be?
We’ll be selling tickets in-person at CPH and E7, likely during lunch breaks, and there will be a link for people to buy tickets on the Discord and Instagram. Our shows are November 20th and 21st (check the poster!).
There’s a tradition in EngPlay for the second night to be “Heckle Night”, where the audience can get involved and is allowed to insert their own jokes into the show when appropriate — the rule to follow is that if you’re not funnier than what’s happening on stage, don’t call it out. It’s always interesting and we love to see the audience get involved — it’s one of the hallmarks of EngPlay and makes us unique compared to other productions on campus. In recent years, people have been heckling on both nights, but generally, the second night is the rowdier of the two. (Note from Ryan: one thing pro hecklers do is coming to the first show, noting where the good jokes are, and on the second show, calling them out…)
Being in the audience is almost as much fun as being in the cast or the crew — it’s such a great experience to see an EngPlay, and it somehow has its own sense of community. We encourage people to come out and support our actors and crew who have been working really hard to get everything set up. The show also falls at a good time this term; it’s pre-exams enough that we’re hoping students aren’t going to be feeling the pressure of exams and can take a night off to come see a show, relax, and have some fun.
Well, in the wise words of the directors when they submitted their interview request: COME TO ENGPLAY!!!! To keep up with their latest announcements, join their Discord and follow their Instagram @uwengplay (where you may potentially find a video of me from last term…)
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